Cat Person - Part 3
by hermin22
Summary: Minerva McGonagall has always been a cat person and Albus knew it. Third installment of the series: 1. The visit 2. Welcome back 3. Cat person


Cat person – Part 3

"Good afternoon, Miss Granger." Albus Dumbledore was glad he never had to look for Miss Granger very long if he wanted to talk to her. The library was always the best place to start.

Hermione couldn't decide if she was surprised or annoyed that her headmaster always startled her like that. By now, she was sure he did it on purpose. She still couldn't be cross with him, because she was so happy he was back in his rightful place.

"Good afternoon to you as well, Sir."

"Have you seen Professor McGonagall today?" As if he didn't know.

The young woman sadly shook her head. She had contemplated visiting her but decided against it. "No, Sir. I would have liked to, but I'm not sure how comfortable she would be with that. I'm a pupil after all."

"I suspect she is rather grateful for your quick thinking yesterday." The look in his eyes indicated that he was grateful as well.

"How do you…" she didn't even finish the question. Albus Dumbledore seemed to know everything. She knew he wasn't going to answer anyway, and he didn't. "How is she today? She was in a poor state yesterday. Of course she came back too early."

"She is not as well as she'd like to be."

Hermione nodded, unhappy. "I wish I could help her in any way."

"Ah, but I think you can. She probably wouldn't be very comfortable with a pupil seeing her right now, but she's always been a cat person."

Hermione's blood froze. He couldn't possibly know that. He hadn't even been here! But something in his look told Hermione that he knew exactly what she had done.

"Don't worry, Miss Granger. Your secret is safe with me. I have to admit I was rather impressed, and I am a bit curious why you decided not to tell your friends."

"I thought about it for a long time, but with the war, I somehow thought it was best to keep it a secret for as long as possible. I obviously wasn't very successful."

"On the contrary, Miss Granger. So far I am the only person who knows, and maybe soon Professor McGonagall if you choose to see her."

"Do you think she'd really allow me to visit as a cat? And won't she be furious with me for becoming an Animagus without help?"

"If you trust me, Miss Granger, there is a fair chance she'll let you visit, and your Professor was about the same age when she became an Animagus. If need be, I'll remind her of that."

Hermione was more than doubtful. "If you think she'd like to see me, I'd be more than happy to visit."

"I know she does, Miss Granger. She is a very proper person, though, and as much as she'd like to see you, she doesn't allow herself to invite you as you are still a pupil."

"And you think she'll see past that when I'm in my cat form?"

"If you are agreeable, I'd like to find out. Unless you have important studies that can't wait." He gestured at the vast collection of books.

"No, Sir. I have time." With a flick of her wand, she sent the book back and looked expectantly at bright blue eyes.

"If you don't mind, I'd ask you to transform. It would be better if no one saw you." He was rather curious as to how she looked as a cat.

Instead of replying, Hermione transformed into the cutest little kitten.

If there had been any doubt that Minerva would allow herself the pleasure of her pupil's company it had just flown out of the window. "Congratulations, Miss Granger. A perfect transformation, and if you don't mind me saying, you look adorable. Would you like to step onto my hand?"

With a proud little "miau", the tiny fur ball hopped into the offered hand. "Now, Miss Granger, there is a secret passageway from the common room to your Professor's quarters you can use in your Animagus form. I will create an entrance for you in the wall behind your bed. It is not safe for you to roam the castle as a cat," he explained while he walked.

So that is how Professor McGonagall always made it so quickly into the common room. Now that was one mystery solved. How many secret passageways were there in the castle?

"Please excuse me for putting you into my pocket," the wise man excused his actions. He wanted it to be a surprise for his friend.

The small kitten was affronted for a moment until she discovered the piece of thread hanging from the fabric inside his pocket. I'll get you, I'll get you, I'll… Outch!"

Oops. These claws were sharper than she had thought.

"Minerva," he called as he knocked on her bedroom door. The fact that she couldn't even make it to the sitting room today worried him immensely. If he could, he'd spend more time with her and keep her company while she recovered, but he simply couldn't find the time.

"Come in, Albus." She sounded as weak as she felt.

She was in bed, only slightly propped up with her head on a pillow, looking very small under the thick duvet. Yesterday had sapped her barely regained strength in a way she hadn't expected. She was so weak it took considerable effort to move around or even stay awake.

Not showing how concerned he really was, he carefully sat on her bed. "My dear, how are you today?"

"Absolutely fabulous," she answered dryly.

Chuckling, he patted her blanket clad leg. "I know, my dear, I know."

"I've got a surprise for you."

That perked her interest, and not in the good kind of way. Albus was famous for surprises and more often than not, they were, well, unusual.

"There is no reason to look so suspicious," he said and faked hurt and reached into his pocket, and to his friend's amazement, pulled out a small kitten.

Minerva was sure her heart stopped beating for a moment.

"Albus!"

He smiled as the kitten stretched and walked towards Minerva.

For a moment, the old woman was speechless. Surely not. She thought her eyes had played a trick on her, but here was a tiny brown kitten, looking exactly the fur colour she thought she had seen yesterday. "You know who that is, don't you?" she whispered, her eyes glued to the beautiful kitten. Carefully, she pulled out her hand from under the duvet and offered it to the small creature who playfully rubbed her head against it.

Albus made eye contact with her, communicating that he clearly knew who that was. "Of course. It's a kitten. My welcome gift to you."

She snorted audibly. "A gift?! She's a student! How did she do that? And when? Did you help her?"

"No, I didn't. As for how, the same way you did it. When? About the same time in life as you did," he gently reminded her.

"That was something entirely different! She could have died!"

He smiled indulgently at her. "The only thing that is different is that instead of me being worried, it is you this time."

She wanted to start round two but was interrupted by a rough little tongue licking her hand. It was a peace offering of sorts, and when she tilted her head a little, Minerva's heart melted into a puddle.

"She's fine, Minerva. Take a good look at her."

Knowing her cue, the kitten started prancing a few steps up and down beside her mentor, proudly holding head and tail up.

The old woman smiled amused as she drew a circle with her finger in the air, telling the fur ball to turn around. "Perfect. The prettiest little kitten I have come across so far. I'm very impressed, Miss Granger."

"She'll make a wonderful pet for you. Everybody is allowed a pet here. Why shouldn't you?"

Minerva looked scandalised. "Because she's not a pet! She's a student, and you brought her right into my bedroom, by the way."

She spoiled her stern speech by moving her fingers for the kitten to catch, and Albus knew she was deeply in love already.

"I can't see a student, Minerva. All I can see is a tiny kitten who needs guidance, and who would be better suited to raise a kitten than you?"

A resigned expression took over her delicate features. "Albus, I'm in no state to do anything at the moment. I don't want to see anybody, and it would be hugely inappropriate to have her with me like that." The old man heard the regret in her voice and knew she was about to talk herself out of it.

Luckily, he wasn't the only one who knew the stern woman well. Not very gracefully, the brown furry climbed on top of Minerva, and carefully padded towards her head.

"What are you doing?"

Albus laughed. "I think she doesn't agree with you."

Having reached her destination, the small kitten gently put a paw on the old woman's cheek, trying to comfort her the best she could. Then she curled up against Minerva's neck and promptly started purring.

"She's not playing fair," Minerva complained.

Instinctively, she reached up and started stroking the soft fur. "Albus, she's a student. It's not appropriate."

"Minerva, you were attacked on the school grounds by a ministry employee. I'm afraid the times of appropriate are over, and the times are getting darker still. For all I can see, you've got a new pet. She'll need a name, and I told her about the passageway she can use. We don't want her to roam the castle and run into Mrs. Norris."

"Albus."

"Minerva, she enjoys your company as much as you hers. Let her do as she pleases. She now can come and go as she likes, and if she wants to be here, just let her. Nobody knows she's not really your pet. Not even Mr. Potter and Mr. Weasley know anything about it."

She raised her eyebrow, but he stood up and smiled at his friend. "Have a good evening, my dear. Get some rest. You look tired, and your companion is sound asleep already."

He turned and just left, leaving his friend to her thoughts, as usual. She didn't have much time to think before Hermione's rhythmic purring lulled her into a deep sleep.

Hermione felt her bed moving and blinked her eyes open.

"I'm sorry, Miss Granger. I need to go to the bathroom."

Obediently, the kitten hopped off her mentor and watched the elder witch struggle to get up. After two failed attempts and the increasingly rapid heartbeat she could suddenly hear, Hermione decided to take action. She jumped off the bed and transformed back into her human form.

Shaking off the dizziness the transformation still left, she reached out and offered the weakened witch her hands to take. "Let me help you up."

Wordlessly, the proud woman took the hands offered to her and allowed her pupil to pull her up, not quite sure how to deal with this surreal situation.

Hermione helped her until she sat on the edge of the bed, amazing Minerva by acting totally natural. "Miss Granger."

"Yes, Professor. We will talk about it once you have returned from the bathroom," she assured her while she took the elder woman's nightgown from the nearby chair and helped her to put it on.

"Here's your walking stick." Hermione fetched the elegant wooden cane and put it into her mentor's hand.

Too nonplussed to say anything, Minerva took it into her right hand and pushed herself up, or at least tried to. She knew she would not have succeeded if Hermione hadn't taken hold of her left arm and supported her. "I'm sorry, Miss Granger."

Hermione was more than taken aback. "Professor! You really have nothing at all to be sorry for!" Knowing that her mentor didn't have enough strength for a chat standing up, the young woman took her left hand and grabbed her upper arm. "Come on, we can talk when you are back in bed."

"You really shouldn't be here." Her voice sounded strained, and Hermione was more than concerned.

"I'm sorry, but I think this is exactly where I should be right now."

Slowly, they made it to the bathroom. "I'll bring you in and give you privacy," Hermione explained, worried that she didn't get more resistance.

It didn't take very long until the door opened again and Hermione took her place at the woman's left side again. "Do you need anything while you're up? Have you eaten?"

"I'm fine. Maybe a cup of tea in bed."

"Of course, Professor. I'll get it in a minute."

A few steps later, they had reached the bed and Minerva was almost shocked how weak she felt now. She was more than grateful that her young charge supported her in that unobtrusive and unpatronizing way that only Hermione possessed.

"Here we are, Professor." As if she'd done that a thousand times before, she took the night gown off and helped the stern witch back into bed.

"I'll get the tea for you now."

"There is a little kitchenette behind the door at the far end. You'll have one, too, won't you?"

"Yes, thank you, Professor."

Minerva took the moments of Hermione's absence to organise her thoughts. She enjoyed the girl's company. More than she should, really. She was one of the very few people she felt comfortable with and didn't mind her witnessing a side of her very few people ever got to see.

On the other hand, this was unacceptable. She was a pupil, and between teacher and pupil should be a professional distance. Nothing justified having a pupil in a teacher's bedroom, no matter if the headmaster thought differently, and not even as a cat.

"Oh dear, I've given you enough time to ponder the situation," Hermione teased, a gently smile on her face when she handed over a cup of calming herbal tea.

My goodness. The girl had even guessed correctly which tea she drank in the evenings.

"Professor, may I sit down?" Suddenly, she was unsure where to sit after having spent the past hour on her mentor's bed.

"Yes, Miss Granger. I'm sorry."

Carefully, Hermione sat cross-legged on the bed, facing her mentor. "That's fine, Professor. It's a very surreal situation for both of us. There is so much we could discuss, but we should keep it simple. I understand that you feel it is inappropriate to have me here, no matter in what form. At the same time, it doesn't feel as awkward as one would have thought. I can only say that I enjoy being here with you and that I think it can work out. I promise you that I'll never repeat anything I see or hear in here to anybody else, not even the boys. Outside your quarters, nothing will be different between us, and I won't behave differently. I'm not worried about you grading my work, because I usually get top marks anyway. It's not that we need to think about favouritism when you can teach again. I also think that Professor Dumbledore was right when he said that I need a different name. We can't be Professor McGonagall and Miss Granger in here all the time. Maybe using our cat names would be an option. Professor Dumbledore was also right when he said that I need a little training, and I am hoping that you can help me a little in understanding that new part of me.

You are far from feeling well and it scared you that you needed help in getting up and walking today. You've been through so much lately and are not feeling like yourself. You are torn and don't know what to make of this.

I can't help you with the decision if you'll allow me to visit, but I would like to ask you to give it a try. And finally, I'm very sorry I became an Animagus without you. I would have loved to have you with me, but well, I didn't have time to wait. The moon phase was right to begin the process."

There was a long pause, and Hermione started getting anxious for the woman to say something.

"I… well, as usual, that was a very accurate summary of the situation."

Hermione gave her a warm smile. "If you don't mind, I'd suggest just giving this a little more time. We drink our tea and talk for a moment. I'll stay for a while and leave when you're asleep. Tomorrow after classes, I'll come and see you. That gives you a little more time to think everything through, and if you tell me tomorrow that you don't want to see me outside of the classroom, I'll respect your decision."

The stern witch quite obviously didn't know what to say, and Hermione took pity on her.

"How do you manage your transform while jumping? I'm still dizzy doing it just standing."

The question had the desired effect. "It will come in time, Miss Granger. It is perfectly normal that you feel dizzy. It took years until I managed that, but the older you get the more it will feel like second nature to you."

"I was so happy when I found out that I am a cat, like you. You've always been my role model," Hermione confessed, not knowing how her mentor would react.

The old woman took a deep breath. She was very touched by her pupil's words. "I am very proud of you, my girl," she whispered.

Hermione couldn't stop the tears springing to her eyes, and before she was openly crying, she quickly changed into her new form. She knew her professor shared her problem, so she instinctively padded towards her and lovingly rubbed her little face against the old woman's cheek.

"Oh Hermione," Minerva whispered and put her cup out of the way before gently pressing the small furry kitten against her, warmth filling her heart. She buried her nose into the soft fur and enjoyed the rhythmic purring. Her heart was lost to the girl, and she knew it. She didn't have it in herself to send her away.

"We need a name for you, little one."


End file.
